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Harry Potter
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From: Jamie Weaver <jweaver>
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 12:53:36 -0600
Thank You for your wonderful comments and questions. I couldn't agree more.
Jamie Lyn Weaver Geneva Public Library jweaver at dupagels.lib.il.us
Message----From: Kris Adams Wendt [SMTP:kawendt at newnorth.net] Sent: Friday, November 26, 1999 11:00 AM To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Subject: Harry Potter
I have enjoyed "lurking" throughout the Harry Potter discussion--both current and this summer--and would like to throw out a few comments and questions.
Setting aside the debate over the Dark Side for the moment, could it be one reason this series has resonated with so many readers of all ages is because the tale is a classic "switched at birth" or "grief resolution" story?? Oppressed orphan boy living with awful relatives miraculously finds Escape, an Alternate Identity, new friends, a new focus, and magical ways to penetrate the veil of death and communicate with his absent parents.
Even if not orphaned, abused, abandoned, or locked into a genuinely dysfunctional family, haven't we all felt like actors in a bad script at some point in our lives and wished to escape to an alternate existence?
Isn't this what "fantasy" is all about? Isn't this a fundamental component of reading for pleasure, period?
Another thought I've had is that Harry Potter's school world, with the intricate ever changing rules, weird characters and bizarre situations, is nothing less than a metaphor for modern life. Totally unrelated to the occult are the little rituals and incantations against disaster that we practice every day for "good luck" or to maintain control and sanity in a world that sometimes seems to be every bit as unpredictable and unmanageable as a year's course of study at Hogwarts. When Harry figures it out and triumphs, maybe readers get a better grip on their own courage and talents along with a reinforced belief that they can rise above the clueless muggles and genuine evil in their own worlds, too.
How easy it is when confronted by an Uncomfortable Thought outside our own realm of experience and belief to adopt a Dursley-like attitude by denying its existence and refusing to talk about it. Even in the most carefully controlled environments, things have a way of flying down the chimney anyway. How many parents who wish to eliminate Harry Potter (or other books) from the protective circle they have drawn around their children might be more tolerant if only they could get past their own fears of inadequacy by learning a few Hagrid-like ways to tame the Thought and teach from it?
My favorite quote from the third Harry Potter book appears below. As I
copied it into my journal on November 10, the anniversary of my father's death, I devoutly wished I had one of those wizard photo albums where the pictures move.
"You think the dead we love ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him....You did see your father last night....You found him inside yourself."
Kris Adams Wendt Children's Librarian/Associate Director Rhinelander District Library 106 N. Stevens Street Rhinelander, WI 54501 Office Phone: 7156582 kawendt at newnorth.net
Received on Mon 29 Nov 1999 12:53:36 PM CST
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 12:53:36 -0600
Thank You for your wonderful comments and questions. I couldn't agree more.
Jamie Lyn Weaver Geneva Public Library jweaver at dupagels.lib.il.us
Message----From: Kris Adams Wendt [SMTP:kawendt at newnorth.net] Sent: Friday, November 26, 1999 11:00 AM To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Subject: Harry Potter
I have enjoyed "lurking" throughout the Harry Potter discussion--both current and this summer--and would like to throw out a few comments and questions.
Setting aside the debate over the Dark Side for the moment, could it be one reason this series has resonated with so many readers of all ages is because the tale is a classic "switched at birth" or "grief resolution" story?? Oppressed orphan boy living with awful relatives miraculously finds Escape, an Alternate Identity, new friends, a new focus, and magical ways to penetrate the veil of death and communicate with his absent parents.
Even if not orphaned, abused, abandoned, or locked into a genuinely dysfunctional family, haven't we all felt like actors in a bad script at some point in our lives and wished to escape to an alternate existence?
Isn't this what "fantasy" is all about? Isn't this a fundamental component of reading for pleasure, period?
Another thought I've had is that Harry Potter's school world, with the intricate ever changing rules, weird characters and bizarre situations, is nothing less than a metaphor for modern life. Totally unrelated to the occult are the little rituals and incantations against disaster that we practice every day for "good luck" or to maintain control and sanity in a world that sometimes seems to be every bit as unpredictable and unmanageable as a year's course of study at Hogwarts. When Harry figures it out and triumphs, maybe readers get a better grip on their own courage and talents along with a reinforced belief that they can rise above the clueless muggles and genuine evil in their own worlds, too.
How easy it is when confronted by an Uncomfortable Thought outside our own realm of experience and belief to adopt a Dursley-like attitude by denying its existence and refusing to talk about it. Even in the most carefully controlled environments, things have a way of flying down the chimney anyway. How many parents who wish to eliminate Harry Potter (or other books) from the protective circle they have drawn around their children might be more tolerant if only they could get past their own fears of inadequacy by learning a few Hagrid-like ways to tame the Thought and teach from it?
My favorite quote from the third Harry Potter book appears below. As I
copied it into my journal on November 10, the anniversary of my father's death, I devoutly wished I had one of those wizard photo albums where the pictures move.
"You think the dead we love ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him....You did see your father last night....You found him inside yourself."
Kris Adams Wendt Children's Librarian/Associate Director Rhinelander District Library 106 N. Stevens Street Rhinelander, WI 54501 Office Phone: 7156582 kawendt at newnorth.net
Received on Mon 29 Nov 1999 12:53:36 PM CST
